Joe Pavelski scored twice on the power play to lead the Sharks to a 4-3 victory Sunday over the Detroit Red Wings and give San Jose a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal playoff series. His third consecutive two-goal performance gives him an NHL-leading nine goals for the postseason.

His playoff feats have earned Pavelski the new nickname — a takeoff on the 1998 movie "The Big Lebowski" — and it's one the Sharks center can live with, albeit reluctantly.

"My friends like it back home. lt's fun, whatever," Pavelski said. "The media likes to create that, but there's a lot of other guys contributing."

True enough. In Game 2, the come-from-behind winner came at 12:37 of the third period off the stick of Joe Thornton, his first goal of the postseason. Ryane Clowe also scored on a play set up by Pavelski, and goalie Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves in earning the victory.

But, his modesty aside, once again Pavelski was the biggest reason that San Jose has won five playoff games in a row for the first time since 2006.

"Obviously he's in the zone right now, and everything he touches seems to go in the net," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, citing Pavelski's career-high 11 shots on goal Sunday. "Pavs is a catalyst right now."

Pavelski's contributions Sunday went beyond the two goals and one assist. He won 13 of 16 faceoffs, helping the Sharks — who won 62 percent of the draws — dominate in the circles.

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Still, his knack at putting the puck in the net was what earned him praise from his teammates.

"Whatever planet he's on, I think everybody wants to get on it with him," Thornton said. "He's been just so consistent, he's been awesome."

Both of Pavelski's goals in Game 2 were timely ones as the Red Wings twice had the lead on the Sharks only to have the Sharks center even things up.

Pavel Datsyuk gave Detroit a 1-0 lead when his 49-foot wrist shot found its way under the crossbar and over the goalie's shoulder at 6:51 of the first period. But Pavelski evened things up a little more than two minutes later, launching a wrist shot from the high slot that found its way past Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard while the Sharks had a man advantage.

Clowe's goal at 10:32 of the first period gave the Sharks their first lead and it was Pavelski who did most of the heavy lifting, eventually centering a pass to Clowe, whose nifty backhand beat Howard.

The Red Wings regained the lead at 3-2 with Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom doing what he does best, parking himself in front of the goal mouth and blocking Nabokov's vision.

The Red Wings were on a power play at 13:17 of the first period when Brian Rafalski's shot from the point deflected off both Johan Franzen and Holmstrom and into the San Jose net. Two minutes into the second period, Nicklas Lidstrom's 50-foot slap shot beat Nabokov as Holmstrom battled with defenseman Rob Blake just outside the crease.

The Sharks drew five Red Wing penalties in the third period and both Todd Bertuzzi and Niklas Kronwall were in the box when Pavelski tied the score at 3-3. Thornton had thrown the puck toward the net and in the scramble that followed, Pavelski managed to poke it past Howard at 4:40.

The final goal came when Lidstrom broke his stick while trying to fire a slap shot from the blue line. Dany Heatley took advantage, leading an odd-man rush, then taking the shot that bounced off Howard and deflected off Rafalski to Thornton, who potted the winner.

While the Sharks could enjoy the fact they've beaten the Red Wings twice, everybody was mindful of what still needs to be done as the series moves to Detroit.

"You're trying to win four and every win you grab is important, especially with home ice," Pavelski said. "We realize they're really good at home as well, and it's still a long ways to go."